Outside Cairo - Dahab

I hesitate to post about something outside Cairo so early on in the life of this blog... but, having just returned from Dahab, I'd feel remiss if I didn't say something about this wonderful town in Egypt. Also, because of the recent revolution; tourism has dramatically dropped in Egypt, and I thought I should plug the place for those who haven't heard of it. Dahab, a town built entirely on tourism, is just barely squeaking by. So for those who live in Europe, particularly, come visit. It's a short flight, with international flights into Sharm al-Sheikh airport, and then just a forty-five minute ride from there. Accommodations range from stringing up a hammock on the roof of a hostel to five-star resorts and everything in between. Filled with coral and tropical fish, the diving is renowned . Snorkeling, windsurfing, sea-kayaking... there's always something to do in the Red Sea. And on land, camel trips into the desert, Bedouin camping, and dune-buggying. And just a little ways away is Saint Katherine monastery, which I'll highlight in another post later on. 

Enough talking about the place, here's some pictures... The first set are Dahab in daytime.

This is Dahab's main strip... On one side are hotels and shops; on the other the beaches and restaurants... Amazing place for a stroll.

Dahab in the evening. Looking across the Gulf of Aqaba, those are the mountains of Saudi Arabia in the distance.

Dahab is also spectacular at night.

As a budding historian, no vacation is just sand, surf and sun... Dahab, meaning gold in Arabic, has long been inhabited by local bedouins and has only recently (since the 1980s) been home to tourism. But even before the bedouin, the town was home to a thriving port and storage area, as part of the Nabatean trading network. Dahab, being located in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, was a key stop off point for the Nabateans living in present Jordan, Palestine and northern Arabia. If you haven't heard of the Nabateans, you're sure to have heard of their capital: Petra. For those who aren't history lovers, Petra was made famous in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 

Along the walking area that runs the length of Dahab, there are some fantastic ruins of a Nabatean port from the 1st century AD. 

Below, an overview of the the larger archeological site.

In the next picture, you can clearly see the rooms that were used for storing goods while ships stopped over in the process of trade. The volume of trade in the Red Sea during the ancient period until the Middle Ages was astounding, even by modern standards. Incense, coffee, slaves, exotic animals, silks and goods from Europe to the Far East all traversed the waters of the Red Sea. Egypt and the region's many civilizations were at the heart of this trade, which only ceased with the Portuguese exploration around Africa and the Spanish discovery of the Americas. Both of these cut out the middle man i.e. the Middle East. It wasn't until the construction of the Suez Canal in the late 19th century that the Red Sea became, once again, a major body for trade.